Question Mark Hovers Above Former Ralphs Location

The vacant Ralphs Supermarket at Grand Avenue and Diamond Bar Boulevard someday could house a discount retailer, a hardware store or even another grocery “major,” according to local real estate professionals.

Whatever the outcome, however, it may take months, if not years, to for the roughly 45,000-square-foot “big box” retail building, according to the same sources.

“There’s a very limited supply of 'A and B' quality suites in this market, and those are being actively pursued by retailers,” said Eric Westedt, vice president for retail leasing in the San Gabriel Valley with CB Richard Ellis, the international commercial real estate firm.

In some locations, retailers compete  to lease large-scale spaces that become available with the closure of major chains, such as Borders or The Good Guys. In this scenario, smaller chains, such as so-called 99- cent stores, may seek to take advantage of high vacancy rates and falling rents to lease well-located stores that were out of reach during the good times.

Finding a new tenant for the former Ralphs location seems likely to take a long time, according to Andy Deng, manager of Diamond Bar Ranch Center.

“A big box space is hard to rent out in Diamond Bar,” he said.

As for whether any tenants are currently on the market for a slightly used supermarket, “it’s hard to say,” according to Deng.

Currently, lease rates for comparable retail spaces on Grand go for $14 to $18 per square-foot yearly, according to Westedt.

Ralphs closed its doors at the Grand Avenue store earlier this month.

“Multiple things happened there that led to the closing of that location, it wasn’t just one issue,” said Ralphs spokesperson Kendral Royel, adding that an “inadequate sales performance" probably was one of the reasons.

Although Ralphs often owns its stores, the grocery “major” had rented its retail space in Diamond Bar, according to Royel.